Mark Smith

Feature writer

I write features, reviews, and comment.

I write features, reviews, and comment.

Latest articles from Mark Smith

Mark Smith: X-rays and secret tunnels: how I changed my mind on George Square's fate

You think you know Glasgow, then you discover something new, like the fact there’s a tunnel from the City Chambers to the cenotaph on George Square. It’s about 3ft high, it’s so narrow you can’t turn round in it, and it leads to an 8ft-square underground chamber. No one knows who put the tunnel there or why. It’s a bit of a mystery.

Mark Smith: A ban on the LGBT rainbow: how did Scotland get here?

It’s hard to know how we got here, but let me have a go. Five years ago, Nicola Sturgeon led Scotland’s largest ever Pride event. “Choose love” said her T-shirt in vivid LGBT+ rainbow colours. And around her: rainbow, rainbow, rainbow. This week: Holyrood bans rainbow lanyards. What happened?

Mark Smith: Now we know the SNP's strategy. It won’t work

The thing about a typical politician’s speech is most of it doesn’t count. About 60% of it is fluff and cliché, about 35% of it is repetition or repeats, about 4% is made up of slogans and buzzwords and 1% of it is new, if you’re lucky. Humza Yousaf uttered 3,500 words in his speech at the weekend, but only 100 of them really mattered, so let’s talk about that.

Mark Smith: What is Holyrood's problem with Scottish lesbians?

Hello boys and girls, I thought we might do today’s column in the style of Police Scotland’s “Hate Monster” campaign. Perhaps we could talk about all those naughty-waughty people who don’t know how to control their hate, mainly horrible white men from deprived backgrounds. What’s that, Sooty? You think the public should be treated like adults? Ok then.

Mark Smith: Some hard lessons for Scotland on referendums and the law

Look at me, look at you, and see the scars. 2014. 2016. Scottish independence. Brexit. We were there, you and I, we went through it, we argued, we fell out with friends and family, we voted. But for what? What did the referendums achieve, apart from making us a little more frustrated, a little more fed-up, and a little more divided?

Mark Smith: Inside the Egyptian Halls. There’s hope for this place

It’s not the best start. Walls of scaffolding, swathes of graffiti, pools of God-knows-what on the pavement, and it seems the only way in is through the ground-floor shop selling sweet-smelling vapes in primary colours. On the back wall is a door to the storeroom and a dark, dusty flight of steps. Up we go.

Mark Smith: The Glaswegians who’ll pay for the 10pm rule

Good night-out on Friday. Best restaurant in Glasgow (Sarti), best soup on Glasgow (golden beans, scarlet tomatoes, deep-green cabbage), and the best pizza in Glasgow (blackened bubbled dough, vivid red chilli, gorgonzola with a flavour that lasts til Thursday). I’ve been going to Sarti’s for 30 years now and I want to go for 30 more.

Mark Smith: Manual cars are an anachronism - it’s time to go automatic

To be honest, I’m not really the sort of person who ends up at the forefront of revolutions, but somehow it’s happened. In 1999, despite everyone telling me I was stupid, misguided or even cheating, I sat my driving test in an automatic. It was a time when virtually no one did that, but 25 years on, everyone’s at it now. So yes: a sort of revolution, and long overdueas well.

Mark Smith: Police Scotland's growing problem with what crime is

There was a bit of a stushie this week over reports the police in Scotland will no longer investigate every reported crime. The Tories called it dangerous. Labour said trust in the service would be damaged. And the Police Federation said the public was being badly let down. Not a good day for police PR.

Mark Smith: Frozen: how we all paid the price for Scotland’s council tax

I’m wondering if you’re one of the frozen: one of the lucky ones (although we’ll return to that word “lucky” later) who will benefit from the SNP’s council tax freeze or one of those who’s facing a rise of 7, 8, 9% or more? Personally, I’m still waiting to hear my fate: frozen or unfrozen, not sure yet.